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A-I B. SHAl, 0F AHOLI)ERNESS, NEW HAMPSHIRE. Letters Patent No. 70,62,dated November 5, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING-UMBRELLAS.

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TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME:

Be it known that I, AI B. SHAW, of Holderness, in the county of Grafton,and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new' and useful or improvedFolding-Umbrella; and` do hereby declare the same to be fully describedin the following specification, andrepresented in the accompanyingdrawings, of which- Figure 1 denotes a vertical section of suchumbrella, as open. I

Figures 2 and 3 are opposite side views of, and

Figures 4 and 5 are longitudinal sections of one of the ribs, thebraccconnection, and one of the arms of l the locking apparatus.

In the said drawings, A denotes the stick of the umbrella, it being madein two parts, a I), jointed together by a link, c, and having aslide-tube, d, to cover the joint, the whole being to enable the lowerpart of the stick to be folded over upon the remainder of the umbrella,there being nothing new in such a construction of the said stick. Eachof the ribs B, Ifconstruct in two parts, ef, which are connected to andby sliders g L, one of which is fastened to one rod and slides on theother, the latter rod being extended through the slider. This is toenable the lower rods e, with the cloth attached to them, to be movedup, with reference to the upper rods of the ribs, in a manner toVcontract the ribs in their lengths, and thus fold or contract the clothcover C attached t0 them. All the ribs, at their upper ends, are hingedto the stick, or a. collar, D, placed thereon. The slidetube or runnerE, and the braces F projecting therefrom to the several ribs, areapplied together and to the stock in the usual manner. Each of thebraces, at its outer end, is hinged to 'an arm, t', which projects fromthe slider g, and is formed in manner as shown in figs. 2 and 4.. Asquare or rectangular staple projects from the slider h, and receivesthe locking-rod Z, formed as represented in iig. 4. This rod isconcentricwith the staple 7c, and the arm z' serves to aid in lockingthe two sections ef of a rib, so as to prevent the lower one from beingslid upward on or by the upper one. This locking of the two sections e ftakes place when the head Z of the rod. Z is within the staple k and therecess m of the arm z'. When the head Z isjpus'hed out of the staple cand the'recess m, and the rod Z is in parallelism with the rod f, thepart e may be slid upward alongside of the rod f. There is alocking-rod, Z, to each of the ribs. All these locking-rods are jointedto a runner or collor, n, which slides on the stick, and is' connectedto a rod, o, arranged within and so as to project from the stick inmanner as represented. The upper part of the stick is made tubular, toreceive the rod o, which has a. head, p, on its outer end, and at itsinner end rests against a helical spring, r, placed within the stick.The collar n is connected with the rod o by a pin, s, which goes througha slot, t, made in the stick lengthwise thereof, the -same being toenable the collar to be moved down on the stick by force applied to theheadp ofthe rod o, and

to be moved back or upward on the stick by the action of the helicalspring 1'.

While tbecollar is drawn up to its highest position the lower portion ofall the ribs will be locked, so as to be prevented from being movedupward relatively to the upper portions of such ribs'; but by pressingthe rod o downward within the stick, when the umbrella is closed, the'lower portions of the ribs will be unlocked with respect to the upperportions, and may-be moved or forced upward relatively to the latter, soas to contract the cloth covering of the'umbrella, after which theslide-tube d of the stick may be drawn downward, so as to uncover thelink-joint, and admit of the lower part of the stick being folded overupon the cover. In this way the umbrella may be contracted so as to beabout one half the length it would have while spread, or.in a state foruse.

I claim as my invention in the above-described umbrella the following,viz:

The combination of the rib-locking mechanism with the braces and withthe ribs, each made in two parts, e f, andl applied together, so as toenable the lower ones e to be moved withrespect to the upper ones f,substantially in manner as specified.

I also claim the rib-lockingmechanism, composed ofthe slide-rod o, thecollar u, the series ,of locking-rods Z, the staples 7c, and the armsc', the whole being constructed and arranged together as explained andrepresented.

I also claim the combination ofthe spring 7' with 'the stick, and thelocking `apparatus applied to the ribs, and arranged to operatesubstantially as described.

AI B. SHAW.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, SAMUEL N. PIPER.

